NOW WITH PICTURES!!
What does the future hold for Baltimore City? No one knows for sure. One way is to examine is to look at the past and present conditions, the other is to look at what's on the drawing board as far as new development. I will attempt to do both while at the same time throwing in my opinion. Sure, the Inner Harbor and its surrounding neighborhoods are nice, but they're aren't my focus. Check out old posts I have added pictures to them!

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Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Washington Boulevard has long since been the Main Street of
Pigtown. In fact, the City has designated it as such. As Neighborhoods
near and including Downtown have seen Billions in gentrification
efforts, Pigtown has been largely left out. Don't get me wrong there
have been great new developments in Pigtown not only on Washington
Boulevard put away from the Neighborhood's Main Street as well.
Residents and City Officials alike want to see Pigtown as an extension
of Federal Hill and Ridgley's Delight as a vibrant community that serves
as a destination not only for its Residents but those far and near
Pigtown. I agree that Pigtown should be revamped as such as but I
wonder; Is Washington Boulevard the answer?

The 1970s proved to be a disastrous decade for the urban core of
Baltimore. Residents were either moving out completely or into the
outskirts of the City. With Industry leaving the Harbor and surrounding
areas desolate something had to be done. In the 1960s a section of
Downtown was slated for redevelopment to be known as Charles Center.
This had become a glimmer of hope for the deserted Downtown as Office
Buildings were completed. This re centralized Baltimore's Central
Business District. Next came the Harbor which became a Retail tourist
destination as Harborplace opened and Residents began moving Downtown as
$1 Row House initiatives were implemented. Eventually this
gentrification spread to Federal Hill, Locust Point, Fells Point, Little
Italy, Canton, Mount Vernon, Patterson Park and will eventually reach
Highlandtown and Greektown. It became evident that Pigtown would also
enjoy this revival.

When the Harbor began its gentrification Pigtown was both the
typical Baltimore Neighborhood and an atypical Neighborhood at the same
time. Perhaps the biggest thing that set Pigtown apart was that it was
and still is very integrated in a City where Neighborhoods tended to be
segregated. Like most of Baltimore, Pigtown was working class and losing
population at an alrming rate due to the decline of the manufacturing
sector of the economy which was a major Employer for the Neighborhood.
In fact, that is how Pigtown got its name back in the 1800s. Given the
Mount Clare Junction's railroad stop and its proximity to slaughter
houses Pigs would run the route in between the train and the slaughter
houses giving the Neighborhood its name; Pigtown.

In an effort to attract more Residents to Pigtown, some busybodies
tried to tidy up the Neighborhood's image by changing its name to the
painfully generic Washington Village. Although Pigtown did gain
population in the 1980s, that was a flook and long term the change in
name was about as misguided as trying to copyright the term "hon."
Pigtown Residents both old, new, and perspective were more than
satisfied with the name of their Community. Also in the 1980s the Mount
Clare Junction Shopping Center was developed complete with a Safeway,
and suburban style lay out. Although the Shopping Center failed to
thrive, the Safeway did hold on until 2010. Only a few tenants remain.

It seemed that to Urban Planners and Community Activists alike that
the key to Pigtown's revitalization lied not in Mount Clare Junction
but in Washington Boulevard, the Community's Main Street. As a result
incentives were offered to Businesses and Residents alike to rehab
vacant structures and turn them into attractive Retail and or
Residential uses. There have been some great success stories along
Washington Boulevard and throughout Pigtown where once vacant row homes
have been handsomely restored. The problem is as these homes are
reoccupied other homes are still being vacated and bordered up
which gives Pigtown a net loss of population both during the 1900s and
the 2000s. Before the housing collapse, builders were interested in
Pigtown. The biggest evidence of this is in the once vacant site
that used to be industrial that was redeveloped as Town Homes known as
Camden Crossing (pictured below). Camden Crossing was built just as the economy tanked,
that meant that it took a lot longer to build and sell the final homes
of the development.

Today Pigtown is in transition. Residents are moving in but it
doesn't supersede those moving out. Residents both old and new want more
businesses to come to Washington Boulevard such as Pubs, Bars,
Restaurants, and other "destination Retail" that will make Pigtown more
than just a Residential Neighborhood but a place with a vibrant
Commercial area without vacancies and Residences that are attractive
and fully occupied. Current Residents of Pigtown, UMB, and Ridgley's
Delight take very expensive to areas that have the businesses they're
looking for in Fedral Hill, Fells Point or the Inner Harbor. Residents
were told that Pigtown was an up & comer which it still is but lets
get the ball rolling.

Washington Boulevard is an attractive Main Street for
Pigtown, but can it attract a crititcal mass that will spur
revitalization? I don't think so and here's why. Although it does run
a short distance east of MLK Boulevard into Ridgley's Delight, it does
not go Downtown. This makes Washington Boulevard less accessible to
those residing Downtown or attending UMB to go into Pigtown if more
night life oriented Retail were to open in Pigtown. Mount Clare Junction
on the other hand has Pratt St. frontage. Pratt St. obviously goes into
Downtown and beyond and if executed properly can be a gateway into
SoWeBo from Downtown. If Pratt St. were thought of as Pigtown's Main
Street I believe that would attract more visitors.

In order to make Mount Clare Junction and ultimately Pratt St. the
Retail core of Pigtown the struggling suburban Shopping Center would
have to be redeveloped. It should be a higher density alternative to the
adjacent Camden Crossing development which will attract the critical
mass of Residents that will support the new restaurants, bars, and pubs
Pigtown is looking to attract. Despite its failing as a

suburban shopping center, Mount Clare Junction as a mixed use mixed
income district of Mid to High rise Apartments and Condos, Office
Buildings, and Restaurant Oriented Retail should thrive and it can spur
reinvestment not only in Pigtown but Hollins Market, Union Square, and
Mout Clare. In addition to attracting students from UMB it can also
attract employees from the UMB Biotech Park a few blocks to the north.

Pigtown has a very distinct personality, not the least of which is
the annual running of the pigs at the annual Pigtown Festival. I think
as new Businesses open in Pigtown that should be kept in mind such as
Pubs that reference Pigs in some way like Hampden does with the bee hove
hairdo and how Woodberry is stating to open Businesses that celebrate
its history as a Mill Village. With Pratt St. being Pigtown's new Main
Street there would have to be a way to get patrons safely across MLK
Boulevard. Since City life depends on walking so much there would have
to be a pedestrian bridge so that people crossing would not have to come
in contact with the overload of traffic that MLK Boulevard endures on a
daily basis.

Although Washington Boulevard is a great Neighborhood Main Street
for Pigtown it doesn't appear to attract a crowd into the Neighborhood
the way Pratt St. has the potential to and given that Mount Clare
Junction has Pratt St. frontage it can make Pigtown into an extension of
Downtown that will revitalize not only SoWeBo but the westside of
Downtown in the process.

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Historically Eastern Avenue held the title of East Baltimore's Main
Street. Given that North Avenue was the northern border for much of the
City's history that wasn't as large of a stretch as it is today. The
way I think of Eastern Avenue is as a diverse high density Main Street
that acts as the northern border to gentrified Neighborhoods like Inner
Harbor East, Fells Point, and Canton. In addition, it acts as a southern
border to more traditional East Baltimore like Upper Fells Point,
Little Italy, Patterson Park, and Highlandtown. Given that Eastern
Avenue plays host to Retail, Residential, and Community Uses it seems
natural that the eastern end of the Red Line be located on Eastern
Avenue but guess what? It isn't.

Although I have spent a considerable amount of time bad mouthing
the Red Line being at surface level along Edmondson Avenue and that the
stops Downtown are lack luster at best, I haven't dedicated much time to
the Red Line in East Baltimore. Option 4C, which is the preferred
option for the City although I hear of more people who hate it rather
than like it.

Option 4C calls for the Red Line to go down President St. for a few
blocks to Fleet St. where the proposed Harbor East stop is to be
located. It will then travel down Fleet St. until it meets Boston St.
where it will travel at surface level until roughly the location of the
new Canton Crossing development. There they go again with surface level,
people think that because it's the cheapest alternative that it's also
the most effective. Sometimes you may have to spend more money in order
to make more money. When something makes more money yet had cost more to
pland and build wouldn't IT be more cost effective than something that
was cheap but has low ridership due to its poor location?

Although Boston St. is very wide considering its location just east
of Downtown, it isn't dense by any stretch of the imagination. Its
housing stock is new and mirrors that of its suburbs. There is also a
suburban style shopping center with a Safeway. The only dense area will
be Canton Crossing although funding woes haven't yielded many finished
products except for the 1st Mariner Tower. Also keep in mind that Boston
St. now has more residences as its waterfront once hosted industrial
uses that have been redeveloped. Also keep in mind that to the south of
Boston St. it's water and nobody but the fishes lives there and fish
don't ride mass transit.

Eastern Avenue on the other hand is much more Retail and Community
oriented with much more of an urban feel. The road itself is much
narrower with parallel parking. There are older "cookie cutter" row
homes with ground floor Retail as well as taller row homes that have
since been converted into Apartments. In short, when traveling on
Eastern Avenue you will know that you're in the City. There are also
plenty of City Bus Stops where Residents who don't have regular access
to a car take advantage of. On Boston St. the amount of Bus Stops
and Riders at said stops is much smaller than what is found on Eastern
Avenue. In short, Eastern Avenue is very dense and Boston St. is very
sparse.

I'm sure now you can see that Eastern Avenue being the preferred
location for the Red Line east of Downtown so why isn't it? It's very
true that tunneled Light Rail under a narrow street is more expensive
and disruptive than surface level Light Rail on a wide street that
comparatively doesn't get much traffic. Could this entire issue be
boiled down to the MTA being cheap? I think so, Although the Red Line
will cost more than other rail lines in DC simply because the other
lines are older and the cost of the Red Line is adjusted to inflation.
Given that the Red Line cost is adjusted to inflation, the MTA still
doesn't want to spend more money to make the Red Line comparable to its
DC brethren.

So it's all about money? That's what has been keeping the Red Line
from being all it can be? Yes that seems to be the problem. At the same
time, the Mayor, the Governor, and the MTA are hell bent on building
just to say that they have. Unfortunately end result of just "building
something" will not improve the area in fact it will detrimental
because the money spent would then be wated due to low ridership. Why
will ridership be low? Given that Boston St. is a lower density higher
income area than Eastern Avenue there are simply more options for them.
Residents there have more access to personal vehicles. Along Eastern
Avenue, Residents are less likely to own a car, not only that there are
simply many more of them both north and south of the road itself. This
all adds up to higher ridership.

The reasons above make Eastern Avenue a better choice but consider
this one; Eastern Avenue is narrow so it can't support surface level
transit therefore it would have to be underground. Underground or
tunneled transit is uninterrupted by vehicular traffic which makes
for shorter trip times. A big reason riders would choose Rail Transit
over their cars would be that it takes less time to get to their
destination. A surface level Rail Car is a big obstruction to traffic and
it has to compete with any and all other traffic. How often have trip
times been delayed on Howard St. due to the Rail Cars competing in rush
hour traffic? It will be just the same on Boston St. Boston St. may be
wide now but it isn't wide enough to accommodate two tracks of Light Rail
in addition to two way traffic and dedicated turn lanes.

Speaking of dedicated turn lanes, with the Rail Cars at surface
level on Boston St. there's a good chance that a lot of side streets
would be forbidden to make left turns onto and off of Boston St. This is
proposed to happen on Edmondson Avenue where the Rail Cars are slated
to be surface level. Like Boston St. this needs to be tunneled as well.
Given that Edmondson Avenue is not as well to do as Boston St., there
has been significantly less coverage by the News Media on it. If
tunneled under Eastern Avenue, these problems will of course be null and
void.

It's very clear that for the Red Line in southeast Baltimore,
Eastern Avenue is all around the better option. Although there is
currently a Community Compact on the record for Option 4C, there has been
some wiggle room in the form of Cooks Lane double tracking. Hopefully
if the pressure is put on the MTA they will change their mind and pony
up the funds to make the Red Line under Eastern Avenue a reality as well
as Edmondson Avenue.